Here is a Sugar Maple. Nice color follage. The leaves are starting go now. Interesting side note about this tree is that I had loads of butterflys that looked like brown leaves and some other butterflys that would hang out on the trunk of this tree. I don't know if the tree had a booboo/wound where they were getting sap to drink or what, but they sure liked this tree for some reason.
Magnolia with seed pod thingy. My husband transplanted two at the same time and this one is much bigger compared to the other tree. I've used the green leaves on small limbs from this at Christmas time for greenery. We've used it as a backdrop with snow for our Christmas cards one year.
I have noticed people having problems with the size and width that this tree grows to when they plant it in front of their home and doorway. Some people remove the lower branches of the tree. Do you have any experience with Magnolias?
Cherry Laurel. This is an okay tree. I don't think this is the best specimen we could have gotten because someone gave it away. The trunk isn't as straight as I would like. It is still nice and green.
This is something you may see in your yard from time to time and wonder what the heck is going on. Little branches everywhere on the ground. The end of the branch looks perfectly round with a little tuft of wood sticking up in the middle. I posted a couple of years back on the tree forum and several people said it was squirrels; however, they were WRONG it's a Twig Girdling Beetle according to someone at the extension office.
I have been picking up the little limbs and putting them in our burn pile for several years now and I seem to be seeing fewer limbs on the ground. Apparently the young hatch out of the little limbs.
This message was edited Oct 24, 2007 9:56 AM
This might be a better photo of what the end of the branch looks like that a twig girdling beetle has chewed off.
those beetles are very common around here. I read in the Kansas City Gardener that they aren't a big threat and don't hurt the trees. I don't know for sure so I would just keep an eye on the trees and stuff.
I don't have experience with any of your trees except for the Sugar Maple. I bought a 5 ft high one from work last year and planted it. Not much color on it, just yellow leaves but it will look better once it is older.
Pepper23 -the little limbs are more of a bother to pick-up then anything. Here there are a bunch laying around the tree. The limbs don't drop all at once either. I just take the cart around and pick them up.
Yeah, that's typical. Our yard always has limbs in it. We have around 18 trees on less than an acre so limbs everywhere.
Is anyone collecting seed? If so, what are you saving?
This is a funny plant. Garlic Chives has these seedheads that some people use in floral arrangements and wreaths. I've read it can be invasive, but I trim the seedheads back and it hasn't been bad. The little butterflys and bees love it when it blooms. You can use it in place of regular chives.
Darlin ~ I'm collecting Cosmos sulphureus and bipinnatus, gaillardia, pansy, impatiens, cannas, heliopsis helianthoide, red salvia, mealy cup salvia, celosia 'Pink candle', marigolds, delphinium consolida, verbena bonariensis and I hope to collect from the pink princess zinna as my girly pumpkins call it, and some snapdragons. Kind of blurry, but the pumpkins " princess pink!"
Uh, oh! There's the "i" word--invasive. We better get terryr over here to explain the difference to us: "invasive vs. "agressive", vs. "one man's weed is another man's flower" LOL
However, darlindeb, you did say you trimmed the seedheads back, which is probably a good thing according to the negative comments I read over in PlantFiles about Garlic Chive.
My garden is new this year but I have saved some "black-eyed susan" and some lily seeds from a friend's yard. I also have potted some cuttings from celosia and from tickseed and a few petunia seeds from my flower bed. That's about all I have for now. A nice lady nearby has promised me some iris and another one has promised some cannas. My garden is growing (in size)! Hooray!
Garden6- I like your princess pink.
marsue-Here is another one to watch out for Four O'clocks. This one is still blooming and it's very dependable and you don't have to do anything for it. It drops these little seeds that look like hand grenades. I have yellow and hot pink. If you plant this one, I'd just let it have it's own bed.
Thanks, deb. I have seen four o'clocks but I have never had any. They are pretty.
I love the pink color of the cosmos and four o'clocks. I have some purple cosmos seeds I got from EvaMae at the RU. I love their cottage look. I have many four o'clock seeds that I saved this year. I don't usually save from four o'clocks as they come up on their own but I want to have them in other areas next year. I had some bloom in pots this year so will do that again next year and use them for fillers. I have a mix of all different colors, yellow, orange, red, deep fuchia, hot pink and varigated as well.
I also have lots of hollyhocks, marigolds, lantana, moonflower, poppies, zinnias, cockscomb, black eyed susan vine, yellow yarrow and morning glories.
Joyce congratulations on such a lovely garden house. Money could never buy the joy you will receive from that building. I know you will have a ball next spring decorating it inside and out. Wow...what a beautiful blank canvas you have there and of course we expect pics of all that you are doing to it.
I have discovered some wonderful compost/mulch for my gardens. It is very old alfalfa hay that was bagged but never used due to critters breaking the plastic bags. That was about 15-20 years ago and I was up in that field and noticed how it had broken down and would work for my needs. DH is gonna take the front loader and bring it to the barn for me. I know it's silly but I feel like I've hit paydirt and I'm so excited to try it. I heard that alfalfa is good for the garden but if anyone has any advice about that please let me know.
This morning it is raining...hooray...!! Tomorrow we go to Columbia to the Mizzou football game. Tigers Rule!! Have a great day and a great weekend!!
Here is a pic of Red lounging in my retirement chair...he knows how to have a good time!
Rose
The alfalfa sounds like gold for your flowers, but I'd wait for someone to verify, Rose... might be to alkaline or something... but it sounds well-aged! Have a great weekend and fun at the game... I'll hang with Red in the retirement chair! (haha)
Dellrose- Love your dog. Our dog is named Red, also. However, his name is short for Redneck because we figured he might have fallen out of some redneck's truck.
I planted garlic a couple of years back and on the advice of the guy around here they call the "Tomato Man" I mulched the bed with about 6 inches of alfalfa hay. I just bought a couple of bales for that. Eventually it broke down, but it was good stuff. I know what you mean about getting all excited over something. My husband asked me what I wanted for my birthday and I wanted mushroom compost. We took the flatbed trailer up to Miami, Oklahoma and had them load it up. Hubby was smart he put down some chainlink fence in the bottom of the trailer and over that he put this material you use under pond liner called underlayment. Probably some old sheets would have worked okay, too. Anyway,
a tarp over the top of it all and strapped down. When we got home he hooked up the tractor and pulled the mushroom compost out of the trailer using the chainlink to drag it out. That sure saved me from having to shovel it all out by hand.
I never thought about putting Four O'clocks in pots. You know they make the tubers that they come back from after a while where I am. How do you get moonflower seed? When I have planted the vine I don't seem to get any seed. I have a light pink hollyhock if anyone wants seed.
Marsue- If there is anything you want seed from, let me know and if I have some I'd be happy to send you a care package.
Did anyone do a fall garden this year? What all did you plant? Are you having any luck?
Here is some Endive I planted. This picture is from earlier this week. I don't really know what I'm going to do with it. I guess just put it in a salad. I have been very pleased with the Buttercrunch lettuce that I planted this fall.
Thanks so much, darlindeb! That's very generous of you! I'll take whatever you would like to send me--anything that blooms, that is! LOL I just added my address to the address list a couple of days ago--you can find it there. Thanks again!
DarlinDeb, you husband is brilliant!
Yes, he is and mushroom compost is such a romantic gift! LOL
This year I have my eye on chicken manure from the guy at the end of the road. Ahhhh, the romance never ends. Oh, and for Christmas maybe we can go over to the horse stable across the road. Now, if I could only find a sheep herder. Sheep pooh is suppose to be wonderful for tomato plants.
I LOVE compost. Hubby is so good he fixed the green tumbler up for me he got it for $20
bucks from a friend. The black one was gift from another friend who moved to Hawaii. The green one with the crank handle is alot easier to use.
Marsue- When it gets a little colder and I'm not so busy I'll make a list of what seeds I have and you can let me know what you want.
Thanks Deb: and you should have seen how excited I was when I found a source for horse manure---LOTS of it. but I wasn't too excited when the wind shifted as DH was shoveling it out of his pickup and I got a faceful!! --as you said--the romance never ends!! ROTFL
Darn...hit the wrong button and my post disappeared...I hate it when that happens!!
darlindeb...That is a good idea for transporting and unloading compost. Some people we know have offered us all the manure we can use from miniature horses and now I know how we will get it! Their manure reminds me of almost rabbit pellets. Here is a link for the moonflower vine seeds...just be sure the pods are dry before you harvest.http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/showimage/10807/. If that link doesn't work it is a link to the plant files.
Also if anyone wants any of the seeds I will be happy to send you some..just dmail me
I went and looked at the moonflowers and they are glorious. I've planted them before with cypress vine. I think I'm gonna start some stuff indoors this coming year so I'll get more blooms during the season.
I have this plant which usually blooms around now, but hasn't bloomed yet this year. It's a saffron crocus. Saffron is suppose to be the most expensive spice in the world. You just harvest the female part of the flower. The little things that look like threads. You don't want the pollen part. It has a delicate sent and flavor and turns rice a beautiful yellow color. I planted some other type of fall blooming crocus over at my mom's house years ago and it comes back every year like clock work.
Has Anybody tried doing a fall vegetable garden?
I tried a fall vegetable garden this year. One of the things I planted was turnips. We have been enjoying them.
Great looking turnips, darlindeb, and it looks like you have some peppers and tomatoes in that box, too. I don't do any veggie gardening but I was out in the back yard and couldn't resist taking this photo of a Painted Lady butterfly on my purple sage. debnes over in the ID forum made the identification for me of the butterfly.
and here is a close-up of a bloom from my climbing Don Juan
and a photo of one of the knock-out rose bushes
Oh, I love your butterfly photo. Isn't the butterfly forum great?
Your roses look good. Do you like the Knockout roses?
Yupe those are peppers and tomatoes. We are still getting those from our raised bed garden. I like raised beds because they drain. Several people I know mentioned they lost their vegetable garden because of the all time record rains we had in June for Northeastern Oklahoma. Our garden did great.
Here is a photo of a trug. I like these for transporting things. You can put your dirty small gardening tools in them and hose them off and the dirt just goes through the mesh bottom. Oops, you can't really see the bottom in this photo. Hubby has made some from old cedar fence and they sold very well at a garden event as a fundraiser item.
I put my dog to work this evening. I have a bed near the front door that I often do in bulbs and violas. I needed to dig it up, but I didn't feel like it. My dog likes to hunt moles. Sometimes I spot a run for him and he starts digging. So, I just kept pointing at this bed and he had it all pretty much dug up in a half hour. LOL I saw this cone shaped thing you can put on your hand held power drill to make holes for bulbs I guess I need to put that on my list for Santa to bring.
Oh I like the trug basket... Can you measure of length, wide or etc.? It will be easy to make trug basket!
Send that dog down this way--we need him! LOL
That's a really neat basket your hubby made. Maybe I can get my DH to make one, too.
DH and I went and got a load of "gold" (horse manure) yesterday to add to our lasagna bed. We had a lot left over so he shoveled the rest of it out into a low spot in our yard. We should have the best bermuda grass in town, at least in that one spot! LOL
I snapped a pic of DH as he was getting ready to shovel that "gold".
Edited to say that I do like the Knock-out roses but they are more like a shrub that blooms rather than a "real" rose. We have six of them altogether. It just all depends on what look you are wanting to achieve when you plant them.
This message was edited Oct 30, 2007 1:32 PM
Rusty56- When it gets a little colder (I'm still swamped with garden stuff). I'll see if the great and wonderful hubby has some plans/diagrams for the trugs that I can D-mail you.
Marsue- I have pooh envy.
Well, these ruffled petunias still look good in October.
darlindeb, that is a gorgeous ruffled petunia! As for the poo envy--come on down, we can get you all the horse poo you want absolutely free--we're only about 4 hours from you, maybe a little more and it's freeway pretty much all the way! LOL (Surely there is lots of poo in your area, too?)
BTW, why do you call those little boxes "trugs"?
Marsue- I don't know why they are called trugs.
Remember October 31st is the last day to enter the Dave's photo contest.
Go up to extras at the top of the page and click on it. Then scroll way down and you can find the contest for 2007. The judges for the contest are the members and I think you can view and start voting on the 1st of November. I think they plan on putting a Calendar together from the winning photos that can be purchased.
Photo of compost I made.
Happy Halloween you all!
Thanks, Deb. Happy Halloween to all (if you celebrate) I'm busy at work lately, not much time to converse, things may slow down soon or not....I'll check in when I can! -B
Batface Cuphea
Great looking compost, Deb!
That's a pretty little flower, AuntB. I have never heard of a Batface Cuphea before now! Do butterflies like those?
Yesterday, DH and I picked up our DGS to take him to his little league football game (his mother had to work late) and we passed a site where "they" were clearing off a lot to build something. There were piles of dark, rich-looking soil which "they" had scraped up with a front-end loader. I told DH he needed to go back over there this morning and see if "they" were giving that dirt away. He did and "they" were! Hooray--free dirt and good dirt, too! DH just got back with the second load and hopefully he will be able to get more before "they" haul it off in dump trucks. I can't believe they were just hauling off all that good dirt and probably dumping it someplace where it won't do anybody any good. We couldn't believe our good luck--well, yes, we could and we are thankful for that dirt! What a perennial bed I am going to have come Spring! Woohoo!
I bought some pansies yesterday to put out in our front flower bed to add some color for the winter. I'll take a pic after I get them planted today.
Marsue- Maybe they would dump a load at your house if you asked. We got wood chips that way once.
AuntB- cool plant did you grow that one?
Hooray tomorrow is Nov. 1st and I get to work on my gravy recipe for Thanksgiving. I have found that putting your gravy in one of those Thermos like pitchers for coffee and tea keeps it hot if you have a big crowd for Thanksgiving or Christmas.
We are still getting Zucchini from our fall planting. The herbs still look good. Here is my sage bush. No killing frost here yet.
Deb,Can you believe they are hauling that dirt to the dump?! It is just a short distance to the dump from where that lot is and about 4 miles to our house so, no, they wouldn't haul it over here. At least, they did use their front-end loader to fill up DH's pick-up with the dirt. He is currently shoveling the fourth load of dirt into our flower bed.
Nice looking sage bush --and that's a good idea about putting the gravy into a thermos to keep it hot--never thought of that. Do you start making gravy for the holidays this far ahead of time? What do you do with it--freeze it? I don't think it would keep, even in a thermos, until Thanksgiving! LOL
Good dirt is hard to find for free. I can remember my mother carrying around a bucket and a shovel in the back of her car and "borrowing" dirt from construction sites to take home.
I think I'm going to do some to try some different gravy recipes out. You can use turkey wings roasted to get your basic flavor going. I made these mashed potatoe Christmas trees that where a big hit last year. You pipe the mashed potatoes into the shape of a Christmas tree sprinkle with chives and top with a yellow star made out of yellow bell pepper. There is more to the recipe; however, that's the basic concept.
Wow, you really spend a lot of time on your Christmas dinner! Those potatoes sound yummy! I've never been real handy at doing anything fancy like "piping", whether it be icing or potatoes!
DH did get 4 truck loads of dirt before they ran out. It had a lot of grass and small limbs in it, though, so he spent a lot of time getting the grass and limbs out. By the time he was finished, he had a big pile to burn. We could have had a wiener roast! LOL
